Borders College recently welcomed Carol Mochan, MSP, to its Newtown St Boswells campus to see the first-class facilities available to learners in the rural skills sector.

Ms Mochan was shown around the campus by Assistant Principal Lynne Gilchrist, Partnership and Development Manager for Rural Skills Andrew Johnson and Lecturer Garry Dickson.

Ms Mochan heard about the college’s sector-leading rural skills provision and the excellent links that the Newtown St Boswell’s team has with the land-based sector both regionally and nationally. They also discussed the increasing challenges facing the further education sector.

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The South of Scotland MSP was also very interested in the learning opportunities available to students at the campus. In particular, she was impressed to hear from the Land-based Service Engineering students about Greenpower Racing and the cars they helped develop.

Ms Mochan also visited the Animal Care department and toured the surrounding Agriculture facilities within the site. The students were delighted to talk to her about their chosen subjects and their aspirations for the future.

Commenting on her visit, Ms Mochan said: “I spent a beautiful day in Newtown St Boswells Borders College campus to discuss how we fight for the future of further education in the face of such serious cuts to funding and placements. The teachers and staff there are doing fantastic work.”

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Assistant Principal Lynne Gilchrist added: “It was a pleasure to welcome Ms Mochan to our Newtown campus and to showcase our outstanding facilities and the great work our staff are doing here.

“The students were pleased to speak to the MSP about their experiences and aspirations, and we are grateful to Ms Mochan for taking the time to visit us.”